Former presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said Saturday he's happy with Mitt Romney's pick for vice president, even though he himself made it on the list, only to fall short.

"I didn’t start supporting Gov. Romney with the expectation that I'd be vice president, so I'm not disappointed in that regard, but he made a great choice," Pawlenty said.

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Other Republicans, including Rep. Frank Guinta, were also glad that Romney chose Paul Ryan.

"Paul understands the budget, understands the challenges of reducing our debt and deficit, getting back to balance and he has proposed bold solutions, and I think that was what Mitt was looking for," Guinta said.

The boldness is why Granite State Democrats are also pleased with Romney's new running mate.

"I do not believe that the Romney-Ryan extremist plans are going to sell very well here in New Hampshire, and we look forward to great victories in November," said Ray Buckley, chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party.

While the choice of Ryan is sure to provoke a policy debate, conservative blogger and founder of www.granitegrok.com, Skip Murphy, of Gilford, said it's a debate Ryan is more than capable of winning.

"He cannot be trifled with. The Obama team cannot throw just anything out without expecting it's going to come back, and the facts are going to come out because Paul Ryan knows this stuff off the top of his head," Murphy said.

Tea partiers and members of the Republican Liberty Movement, like Murphy and Jerry Delemus, of Rochester 9/12 project, know the Ryan pick is aimed at firing up voters like them, but they said the new Romney-Ryan ticket still has work to do.